OTHELLO (1995)
A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 2003
In 16th Century Europe was ravaged by religious wars and people, being too busy with slaughtering their fellow man over different interpretations of Bible, paid little attention to exotic issues like race. William Shakespaeare thus couldn't have known what kind of problems would his play OTHELLO create for interpreters of his work in later centuries, when the idea of black man marrying white woman became taboo in many seemingly enlightened parts of the world. Despite those difficulties, OTHELLO was adapted many times on film. One of the more recent versions was directed in 1995 by Oliver Parker.
The plot of the film takes place in early 1570s. Othello (played by Laurence Fishburne), black general in the service of Venetian Republic, has just been sent to Cyprus to fight the Ottoman Turks. Before departure he secretly marries Desdemona (played by Irene Jacob), daughter of the powerful Venetian senator. After defeating Turks and receiving Republic's highest honours, Othello promotes Cassio (played by Nathaniel Parker), one of his lieutenants. Iago (played by Kenneth Branagh), the other lieutenant, is passed and his bitterness results in diabolical scheme. Pretending to be Othello's friend, he gradually manipulates the general and convinces him that his beautiful wife is unfaithful.
These days the movie adaptations of Shakespeare are unimaginable without some sort of modern setting. Parker's version is more conservative and the creative interventions are limited to few sex scenes and trimming of around half of text. The latter didn't produce desired results - OTHELLO with its two hours still looks overlong. Another problem is the fact that the entire 16th Century setting doesn't seem quite convincing. The cast is, on the other hand, good. Laurence Fishburne (who had mastered British accent for this role) is very convincing as Othello, while Kenneth Branagh enjoys opportunity to play a villain for change. Irene Jacob, on the other hand, seems somewhat lost in this film, her French accent being at odds with predominantly British actors. Oliver Parker's direction also leaves much to be desired, so this version could be recommended only to those who haven't yet seen enough Shakespeare on film.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
Review written on January 30th 2003
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in Croatian http://www.purger.com/users/drax/reviews.htm - Movie Reviews in English http://www.ofcs.org - Online Film Critics Society
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